Me and Camping.....

I love camping, well, at least in thoery I do. I like the idea of sleeping outdoors with cool breezes and being close to nature. However, in practice, it is much different. It is dirty and muddy and buggy and too cold and too hot and....well you get the picture.

This weekend, we had planned our first 2008 trip with the pop-up. When it was planned months ago, I was worried it was too early in May to get warm weather. However, in April we were blessed with beautiful weather and my fears eased. As the weekend approached, the weather got colder and rainier. Ick!

Don brought the camper and the kids to Charlestown, RI on Friday afternoon. I only had to meet them down there after work. When I got there the kids looked happy, but tired and hungry. We quickly fed them and got them to bed. Easy right? I turned in early. We thankfully have heat in the camper so I was toasty warm in my sleeping bag. Ian was on the other bed and Leah was on the floor between the 2 eating benches. Around 2am (I'm guessing) all h-e-double hockey sticks broke loose. Leah decided that she was sick of sleeping and felt like crying. Well a crying baby in a campsite is no fun for the other campers. I tried to console her and it worked for awhile. Meanwhile, I had to pee like nothing you ever felt. The bathroom was a good 100 yards away and it was pouring! If I left Leah to pee, she'd scream (she was awake afterall) and if I stayed I was going to pee in my nice toasty warm sleeping bag. What would you do? I prayed that she would go back to sleep and I could sneak out during a break in the rain.

After a couple hours with this dilema hanging over my head, I couldn't take it anymore. When the rain broke, I woke up Don and asked him to take her. He did and I rushed to get to the bathroom before the rain got harder. Leah screamed the whole time I was gone. Of course, this wakes up Ian. Now he is ready for the day and it is 4 am and dark and cold and rainy. I don't think so! I take Leah back, switch beds with Don (who is too hot! Can you believe that? Did I marry a polar bear?), and try to get both kids back to sleep. No dice. Eventually Don takes Ian in the other bed and I get Leah to sleep as the sun is coming up.

Around 7, we start to wake up for the day. Don gets breakfast and coffee going while I try to pry my eyes open. The kids are full of energy (huh?) and ready to do something..... Only problem is it is very cold (45 degrees or so) and muddy. We bundle up in 3 layers each. After breakfast, we head to the store which was a 10 minute walk away. That was nice. Ian and Leah have fun playing on the playground while Don heads back to make sangria for that night. 5 minutes after he is gone, I now have 2 poopy kids (one in underwear - ick!) and a 10 minute walk ahead of us. Great.

After getting everyone cleaned up, Ian finds a friend Jack, who he treats horribly. I don't understand why the kid begs to play with other kids and then wants to hit, kick, punch, and tackle them when they do agree to play with him. I guess I really don't understand almost 4 year old boys very well. Leah starts on her downward spiral from not sleeping and just wants to be held constantly. Are we having fun yet?

Don returns from a trip to the bathroom and I announce that I've had enough of camping and want to go home. I offer to take the kids and he can stay if he lets me go. He agrees and I'm out of there around 1pm. The thermometer in the car reads 49 degrees.

Yes, I cut out early. I'm a wuss. I still think that camping is good and when the weather is better (and the kids sleep) I will be able to do it. You want to know how I know it will work out again and it is worth it? When I see pictures like this (taken today)....